FRIAR

An Anthology About Athletic Activities Achievements And Ancillary Articles

December 31, 2008

In and Out - Health Centre does not take a holiday,

Despite arriving very early this morning, the number of people waiting at the health centre was still as large as usual, if not more for that time of day. However only a short wait for the pathology collection area, and then into the chemist for some needed medicines to keep us dosed to the eyeballs.

This was quick, so we are now stocked with tablets/medicine.

Back to the doctor in two days time.

Happy New Year to all, and enjoy the fireworks/celebrations/ and make and keep some resolutions as that seems to be the flavour for this time of year.

December 25, 2008

Kaboom Karash Kerplunk

Two nights ago, our prospective son-in-law heard an almighty crash during the night.

The previous night he heard all the thunder and lightning.

Anyway, on inspecting the backyard the day after the crash, it was clearly evident what he had heard.

The trellis which supported, and still does support, the grapevine had come thundering down onto the paved area of the yard.

The trellis is now leaning at a precarious angle, inviting all and sundry to venture underneath at their own risk. It either collapsed due to the heavy rain we have had recently, which rain undermined the foundations, or was due to the lack of rain, which dried the supporting structure so much, that it collapsed through exhaustion. Or collapsed because during the construction phase, a proper construction was not carried out. All reasons are purele speculative.

Anyways, the grapevine did not separate from the trellis, but is now resplendent at 45 degrees angle to previously.

We will probably leave it be, until all the grapes have ripened and are picked, and then take appropriate action, meanwhile, anybody wandering in our backyard with or without permission is at serious risk of a further fall by the structure.

If we'd had dogs, they would have had their doghouse directly under the "structure".

Anyway, so endeth our excitement for year 2008.

But wait, the year has not yet finished.There's still about one week left.

Plan to rename park for Kerryn McCannBY JOEL RITCHIE24/12/2008Greg McCann, the husband of champion runner Kerryn McCann, said his family would be thrilled if a plan to rename a Coledale oval in his late wife's honour succeeded.Coledale Waves Junior Soccer Club president Ian Dewey has approached Wollongong City Council to rename St James Park in honour of the Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, who died after a brave 16-month battle with cancer earlier this month.The council plans to contact the family about an appropriate way to mark McCann's passing in the New Year.St James Park, which can be seen from the family's Coledale home, was the finishing point of McCann's emotional leg with the Olympic flame before the 2000 Sydney games and the starting point of her training runs.Mr McCann said the proposal was a "great gesture"."Everyone around town knew Kerryn and we spent so much time at the ground," he said."She would have run around that oval thousands of times as a warm-up for her training runs."McCann was also a fixture at the ground as eldest son Benny, 11, played for various Waves teams - often coached by Greg.Mr McCann hopes daughter Josie, 5, and son Cooper, 1, both don the club's claret-and-white jersey in the future."I don't know if Josie will play football ... she's so tiny the ball might knock her over," he said."The little one, Cooper, he'll be all over it - I can see it now. The kids are down there playing almost every afternoon ... we can see the ground from our place."How would the kids feel about their favourite sports ground bearing mum's name? "They'd love it - they'd be thrilled," Mr McCann said."Kerryn would just blush and say 'don't make a fuss' but she would be thrilled that people thought so highly of her."Mr Dewey said the Coledale committee tossed around ideas before hitting on renaming their base in honour of McCann."We want to keep it in people's minds that breast cancer is here and that scientists need money to get rid of it and hope that Kerryn's very public fight with breast cancer helps achieve something in getting rid of this horrible disease," he said. "We decided naming the park would mean it's there forever."A council spokeswoman said the general manager would speak with the McCann family in the New Year about the most appropriate way to commemorate Kerryn's achievements.

December 17, 2008

Prime Numbers

In "The Rich List" last week, a question was to name the prime numbers.

The first to answer, got it wrong by indication the number "1" was a prime number;-

Bu definition, "1" is not a prime number.

So here it goes from a search by Google.

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Prime NumbersIf a number has only two different factors, 1 and itself, then the number is said to be a prime number.7 is a prime number since it has only two different factors.Note:But 1 is not a prime number since it does not have two different factors.

December 12, 2008

Family and friends remember Kerryn McCann

Family and friends remember Kerryn McCannDecember 12, 2008 - 12:50PM

About 1000 mourners gathered in driving rain to farewell marathon runner Kerryn McCann this morning.The 41-year-old mother of three died of cancer on Monday.Her husband, Greg McCann, and her three children, Benton, 11, Josie, 5 and Cooper, 14 months, led the funeral service, which was conducted at Church of Christ in the Wollongong suburb of Figtree.Officiating at the ceremony was Christian surfer Brett Davis, who said that McCann had been an inspiration to her family, her community and the entire country."Somebody said she was an ordinary woman with an extraordinary talent. Never a more true word spoken," he said.Among the mourners were marathon greats Robert de Castella and Steve Moneghetti, athletes Raelene Boyle and Craig Mottram, her manager Nic Bideau, swimmer Susie Maroney and local politicians, including Jennie George, David Campbell and Sharon Bird.Many of the family and friends who spoke during the service mentioned McCann's two-second victory in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games marathon."She was running on the wings of angels," her friend Krishna Stanton said.McCann discovered she had a cancerous lump in her breast when she was pregnant with her third child. She had surgery last year while still pregnant, and had the birth of her son Cooper induced so she could begin 20 weeks of chemotherapy.The treatment seemed to have been effective but this year she found that the cancer had returned, spreading to her liver and finally her brain.She died at her home in Coledale, north of Wollongong, with her husband and children at her bedside.Her family asked the Australian public to make donations to Breast Cancer Network Australia in her memory.

In the premier events of the meet, the mens 10,000m (and Australian Championship event) World Cross Country representative, Victorian David McNeill produced the race of the night to win in a World Championship “B” qualifier in 28:03.02 from American Bobby Curtis in 28:06.74. World Half Marathon representative Queenslander Michael Shelley was third (silver medallist for the Australian Championships) also run under the World Championship “B” qualifier running 28:08.96. Last year’s Zatopek winner Collis Birmingham was fourth but took the bronze medal for the Australian Championships in 28:21.62, outside of the World Championship qualifiers.

About Me

I am married with two daughters.
The younger lives in Townsville, Qld, and the older lives in Portland, Oregon, USA.
We are both retired from The Public Service, and since retirement have travelled to Uluru, Brisbane, Kingaroy, America, and South Korea.
Other trips are being planned.
Grandchildren are Ari, and Leila Belle.